MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: rubyroo on January 06, 2012, 05:28

Title: Is it just me or...
Post by: rubyroo on January 06, 2012, 05:28
Is it just me or are your 2011 monthly earnings displayed on iStock now different than when you documented them at the end of each month?

I reviewed my numbers through the year and found that many of the monthly earnings figures in the site stats were higher than when I originally documented them at the time.

Of course, I may have been having a bonkers moment each time I wrote them down, but I doubt it.  I would encourage others to go back through the monthly stats on the site and check theirs.

If it turns out I'm bonkers, I'll just have to live with that...  ;D
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: ShadySue on January 06, 2012, 06:11
Mine are all the same. It's probably too obivious to ask if you wrote down the totals before the PP results came in - but I suspect you'd notice the green bars.
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: rubyroo on January 06, 2012, 06:20
No PP.  Just iStock numbers.  Now I'm worried that I AM bonkers  :D

Thanks for checking, Sue.  I hope someone, somewhere sees the same thing... maybe it's specific to independents?
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: Cogent Marketing on January 06, 2012, 07:02
I think the whole system is screwed up at the moment. My bar graphs look OK but the Photo + calculations are all wrong.

I only have a few P+ images at the moment as I have gradually pulled all my files out of IS apart from about 30. Two of those P+ files are showing revenue as follows;

P+ D/L    85   P+ Royalties   $3.80
P+ D/L    4     P+ Royalties $10.75

Pick the bones out of that one.
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: microstockphoto.co.uk on January 06, 2012, 07:43
Is it just me or are your 2011 monthly earnings displayed on iStock now different than when you documented them at the end of each month?

Did you check your earnings on the first day of each new month? I noticed the same: it takes at least 2 or 3 days for them to list all sales from the previous month. Even the simplest things get complicated there.
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: thesentinel on January 06, 2012, 07:55

Of course, I may have been having a bonkers moment each time I wrote them down, but I doubt it.

Why write them down when you can download .csv files ?
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: rubyroo on January 06, 2012, 08:22
Did you check your earnings on the first day of each new month? I noticed the same: it takes at least 2 or 3 days for them to list all sales from the previous month. Even the simplest things get complicated there.

Indeed I did.  That'll be it then.  I suppose in future I'll have to complete the MSG polls a bit later in that case.  Thanks very much for letting me know.

(Not bonkers after all!)
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: rubyroo on January 06, 2012, 08:29
Why write them down when you can download .csv files ?

Re-writing this so it's a bit more succinct and logical (but not much!)

I have to document figures from quite a lot of agencies (some of whom don't seem to provide .csv files, or if they do I can't find them), so it makes more sense to me to keep a handwritten book and jot down the figures I need in the consistent order required to copy easily to my spreadsheet.

Additionally, call me old-fashioned (I'm sure you will!) but I have a deep fondness for the physical act of writing with a pen, drawing lines in books, the tactile sensation of turning pages - the way pages sound more crinkly once they've been written on both sides, etc.  It slows me down and stops me from having my pace of life driven by technology. 
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: helix7 on January 06, 2012, 09:37

I noticed the same thing, if you record the monthly total within a few days of the month ending, it's not accurate. A week or so later the number will change. And forget it if you factor in PP numbers. Those can take months to reflect in the monthly totals.

It's just good old istock trying to be so technically advanced while only managing to be technically deficient as a result. For all their efforts to make the site do more, they still fail at the basics.
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on January 06, 2012, 09:46


Additionally, call me old-fashioned (I'm sure you will!) but I have a deep fondness for the physical act of writing with a pen, drawing lines in books, the tactile sensation of turning pages - the way pages sound more crinkly once they've been written on both sides, etc.  It slows me down and stops me from having my pace of life driven by technology. 

I know just what you mean, having spent all morning developing sheets of B&W film. There's a lot of satisfaction to be had from doing things slowly and methodically, without getting eye-strain.

There's also satisfaction in knowing that the negatives or written record will still be there after the next computer crash (now I expect someone will tell me that I only need four interlinked LaCie drives shadowing each other. with full virus protection and backed-up online to a computing vault in Iceland and my data will be safer than houses... ).
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: jbarber873 on January 06, 2012, 09:56


Additionally, call me old-fashioned (I'm sure you will!) but I have a deep fondness for the physical act of writing with a pen, drawing lines in books, the tactile sensation of turning pages - the way pages sound more crinkly once they've been written on both sides, etc.  It slows me down and stops me from having my pace of life driven by technology. 

I know just what you mean, having spent all morning developing sheets of B&W film. There's a lot of satisfaction to be had from doing things slowly and methodically, without getting eye-strain.

There's also satisfaction in knowing that the negatives or written record will still be there after the next computer crash (now I expect someone will tell me that I only need four interlinked LaCie drives shadowing each other. with full virus protection and backed-up online to a computing vault in Iceland and my data will be safer than houses... ).

   watch out for exhausted fixer!  ( organic virus...)  and scratches. And dust. And fumes. And weird colored fingernails from developer. Ah, the good old days! I know what you're saying, but i don't miss the darkroom.
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: rubyroo on January 06, 2012, 10:47
@ Helix.  Thanks!  Good to get further confirmation that that's the issue.  It does seem crazy that one agency out of so many can throw an indy's records completely out of whack.  

@ Cogent.  Those are strange numbers!  I hope you can get some clarification.

@ BaldricksTrousers.  Iceland vault!  :D  It's true, we never seem to feel secure enough about our non-physical data.  Hard copy is a 'must' for me.  It's great that you're still keeping your pre-digital skills alive, and that you still have a love for the process.   :)  Here's to life in the slow lane from time to time.  It's such a sanity saver.
Title: Re: Is it just me or...
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on January 06, 2012, 12:24

   watch out for exhausted fixer!  ( organic virus...)  and scratches. And dust. And fumes. And weird colored fingernails from developer. Ah, the good old days! I know what you're saying, but i don't miss the darkroom.


Lol! It was exhausted developer that did for my first four sheets today! I'd like to do one-shot developing but I don't have an endless supply of marbles or a collapsible bottle to keep the air out, so I tried the reusing stock solution method. The others came out though (with plenty of dust and scratches) after I mixed up a new batch. Here's one:
http://fotoblogzone.com/2012/01/06/slow-progress-in-large-format/ (http://fotoblogzone.com/2012/01/06/slow-progress-in-large-format/)
Now, how to avoid scratching sheet film when using a changing bag... any ideas?